Editor's Note

As World Contraception Day comes, the issue of sexual safety has drawn public attention once again. Public awareness of contraception needs to be raised in China. The World Contraception Day takes place on September 26 every year. The 2012 WCD theme is: Your Future, Your Choice, Your Contraception

The WCD was launched in 2007 and China joined the campaign in 2009.

Contraception in China

※ In China, emergency contraceptives containing mifepristone are sold over the counter, which means illegal practitioners have easy access to the pills, and the real-name registration would help deter such practices, Wu Xingfa, head of the the Fuzhou Food and Drug Administration, said.

※ "In China, sex-ed is not a mandatory subject required for graduation, which leads many schools to simply ignore it and avoid potential controversy," said Fang Gang, director of the Sex and Gender Research Institute at Beijing Forestry University

※ "There isn't a generation in China that has received systematic sex education, so parents and teachers are at a loss as to what to teach. Sex education is the most backward subject in China's education," said Sun Yunxiao, an educator and deputy director of the China Youth Research Center

※ Chinese law stipulates the minimum age of marriage for women is 20 and 22 for men. On average, those born in the 1980s lose their virginity at 21, about 3 years younger than those born in the 60s and 70s, according to a joint study by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Yale University released in July.

※ One of the great difficulties sex educators have in China is combating the adult notion that teaching awareness of sex and sexuality will be seen by young people as condoning sexual activity.

※ In China, most people are reluctant, and even ashamed, to talk about sex, and this is particularly true when it comes to parents and children. In China's feudal society many couples only learnt about sex through drawings surreptitiously hidden in the soles of embroidered shoes that were passed along with a bride's dowry.

Related Statistics

Some 13 million abortions are carried out in China each year, according to a survey released by the official website World Contraception Day in China.

About 50 percent of the women getting abortions in China every year have had abortions before, according to the survey.

The survey shows only 12 percent Chinese young women know how to avoid pregnancy, Beijing Evening News reported.

Between 40 to 50 percent of women who have had abortions in the hospital are juvenile girls, according to a tracking study by a team led by sociology professor Chen Yijun and a hospital, reported Guangzhou Daily.

Nearly 60 percent of Chinese women worry about unplanned pregnancies, according to a survey conducted by the China Population Communication Center under the National Population among 3,000 women.  Source: Xinhua

About 57.6 percent of respondents would not be willing to discuss their sexual feelings with their partners, and nearly 70 percent of women passively receive sex knowledge.   Source: Xinhua

Contraceptive Methods

	Hormonal methods The Pill, The Mini-Pill, IUS, Injectable Contraceptives, Implants, The Contraceptive Patch, The Vaginal Ring	Hormonal methods that temporarily alter the way your reproductive system works.
	Barrier methods Condoms IUD Diaphragm/cap Spermicides	Barrier methods designed to stop sperm getting into the womb, where it may fertilise the egg.
	Other methods Withdrawal method Natural methods Sterilisation Emergency contraceptives	There are other methods, but they are less sophisticated in avoiding pregnancy. The withdrawal method is one of the best known, however all these options are much more risky.

Source: your-life.com

Viewpoints

※ "More and more people now choose to have the operation at private hospitals, making it worse as doctors' qualifications can't be guaranteed," -------------Xia Enlan, a gynecology and obstetrics doctor from the Fuxing Hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University, warning that frequent abortions might lead to infertility.

※ "[Schools and parents] are always avoiding educating children with contraception knowledge, as they worry that young people would start having sex once they have this understanding," -------------Li Yinhe, a noted professor and researcher on sex in China

※ "The phenomenon [getting pregnant] is very rare for my junior school students because they haven't got an obvious need for sex and our school is a key one,"-------------Zhang Xinlei, a psychology teacher who teaches 12 to 15-year-olds

※ "Sex education is still a very big problem in China, although in recent years we have seen really good materials for students, but the educators don't appear to be open-minded enough," -------------Mia Lee, a member of the Youth Task Force, an NGO that supports the WCD

※ "A shocking fact is that to people who have little knowledge of this, abortion looks like a handy solution, and false promotions from hospitals selling abortion services make the situation even worse," -------------Lu Jiehua, a professor of sociology at Peking University, adding that authorities also need to make people aware of the dangers of abortion.

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